Sensors can be used in various types of devices to measure and monitor properties of systems in a wide variety of different applications. For example, sensors have become common in products that rely on electronics in their operation, such as automobile control systems. Common examples of automotive applications for sensors are the detection of ignition timing from a position or rotation of an engine crankshaft and/or camshaft, the detection of wheel speed for anti-lock braking systems and four-wheel steering systems, and other applications.
Many automotive sensors use serial communication to send data in the form of a stream of pulses or bits over a communication channel to a computer or other processing system. Typically, each pulse stream conveys a limited amount of data, and may not efficiently or accurately, if at all, report fault conditions of the sensor.